Novel Engine Concepts for Multi Fuel Military Vehicles 2012-01-1514

The paper considers different options to design a multi fuel engine retaining the power densities and efficiencies of the latest Diesel heavy duty truck engines while operating with various other fuels. In a first option, an igniting Diesel fuel is coupled to a main fuel that may have any Cetane or octane number in a design where every engine cylinder accommodates a direct Diesel injector, a glow plug and the multi fuel direct injector in a bowl-in-piston combustion chamber configuration. Alternatively, an igniting gasoline fuel replaces the Diesel fuel in a design where every engine cylinder accommodates a gasoline direct injector, the multi fuel direct injector and a jet ignition pre chamber also with a bowl-in-piston combustion chamber configuration. Both these designs permit load control by changing the amount of fuel injected and Diesel-like, gasoline-like and mixed Diesel/gasoline-like modes of operation modulating the amount of the multi fuel that burn premixed or diffusion. The paper only covers engine performance simulations for operation Diesel-like and gasoline/HHCI-like, being the simulations of the mixed Diesel/gasoline-like modes currently not available. The new designs have the potential to deliver even better than current heavy duty truck Diesel fuel conversion efficiency both part load and full load operating with variable quality fuels.